Jackson Ward Podcast - National Park Service

Jackson Ward Podcast

David Ruth: Welcome to the National Park Service's podcast tour of the Jackson Ward Historic Landmark District in Richmond, Virginia. I'm David Ruth, Superintendent of the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site located in the heart of Jackson Ward. Maggie Walker's home has been a National Park since 1978. She lived in the ward from 1904 until her death in 1934. Her house, and the park's visitor center, is surrounded by an incredible collection of historic sites that, together, make up this amazing story of Jackson Ward. During the early twentieth century, when Jim Crow segregation laws separated the races, Jackson Ward emerged into what has been called "The Cradle of Black Capitalism." African Americans took to heart Maggie Walker's words when she said: "Economic independence is the only independence in the world." In Jackson Ward, more than 100 black-owned businesses, including insurance companies, six banks, two hospitals, law offices, the churches, a variety of clubs and other businesses all combined to create an affluent black middle class. Many prominent African Americans, like bank president Maggie Walker and newspaper editor John Mitchell, made their residences here. Her neighbors were leaders in national organizations such as the Afro-American Press Association and the National Dental and Medical Associations. This twelve-stop walking tour will introduce you to the people and institutions of Jackson Ward that flourished around Maggie Walker's lifetime.

Before starting the one-mile walk, be sure to download the map at the park's website at mawa. Maps are also available at the park's visitor center, located at the intersection of Second and Leigh Streets. At the end of each segment of the tour, please pause your listening device and then start it again at the beginning of the next stop. Original music recordings of the 1920s and 30s will help identify the breaks. Along the way, be sure to use the sidewalks and crosswalks for your safety. Now, let's join our guide, the outstanding Richmond historian and author, Elvatrice Belsches. I hope you enjoy your tour.

[MUSIC]

Elvatrice Belsches: Welcome to the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site podcast tour of Historic Jackson Ward. We will start the tour at the 600-block of North Second Street and carefully cross over the intersection of Second and Leigh Street in the 500block of North Second Street and continue forward and stop at 528 North Second Street.

[MUSIC]

STOP #1

EB: Richmond has been called the "Harlem of the South" and no corridor underscores why better than North Second Street. One of the most popular entertainment venues for decades was the Hippodrome Theater, located to our right at 528 North Second Street. During its heyday, the Hippodrome was to Jackson Ward what the Apollo was to Harlem. This theater opened in around 1914 and, for several decades hosted some of the most popular vaudeville acts and movies starring African Americans. Internationally-known

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musical performers like Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, and James Brown also graced its stages. Many of the performers who played the Hippodrome stayed across the street at the famous African American-owned Slaughter's Hotel and the Miller's Hotel which was located on the southeast corner of Second and Leigh. Miller's Hotel would later become the Eggleston Hotel. All of these hotels have since been demolished.

As a continuation of Stop #1, we will travel next door to 526 North Second Street. This building was formerly the mansion of the Reverend W.L. Taylor. Reverend Taylor was the second national leader of Grand Worthy Master of the True Reformers. The True Reformers were inarguably the most powerful African American fraternal and business organization of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many subsequent leaders of African American banks and insurance companies received their initial training with the True Reformers organization. The W.L. Taylor mansion, upon its completion in 1907, had over twenty rooms and was believed to be one of the largest residences built for an African American at that time in America. When Reverend Taylor and his family threw open the doors of their home to the public, for the official open house in February of 1908, it was a grand affair. Visitors were greeted at the door by none other than pioneering banker Mrs. Maggie L. Walker. The Taylor mansion was designed by noted African American architect J.A. Lankford of Washington, D.C. Lankford had several noteworthy commissions in Richmond. However, one of his most noteworthy commissions was the True Reformers' building which still stands, over a century later, at 12th and U Street in Washington, D.C.

Richmond has also been called "The Cradle of Black Capitalism" for good reason. Between the years of 1889 and 1929, there were six chartered African Americanowned banks in Richmond and each had a presence in Jackson Ward. On North Second Street alone, there are three African American banks and at least four African Americanowned insurance companies. Stop 2 will feature a building that formerly housed an historic African American-owned bank and insurance company.

We will continue now to the intersection of Second and Clay Street and carefully cross over to the other side of Clay and continue down to 212 East Clay Street. This will be Stop #2.

[MUSIC]

STOP #2

EB: We are now at Stop #2 at 212 East Clay Street which sits on the corner of Third and Clay. This building formerly housed two historic African American business enterprises. The Southern Aid Insurance Company and the Mechanics Savings Bank.

If you turn and face the building, the right half of the building formerly housed the Mechanics Savings Bank. This bank was the third chartered by African Americans in Richmond. It was founded by John Mitchell, Jr. and it opened for business in January of 1902. Mitchell was a Jackson Ward-based African American journalist, editor, and proprietor of a newspaper. He was also a fraternal leader who had been on the Board of Directors of the True Reformers Bank. This location of the Mechanics Savings Bank was constructed in 1909 and opened for business in 1910. The bank was designed by a white

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architect by the name of Carl Ruehrmund. The African American contractor in charge of construction was Daniel J. Farrar. Farrar apprenticed in the building trades under his father, Joseph E. Farrar, a leading African American contractor who served on City Council during the 1880s. The Mechanics Savings Bank failed in 1922.

The Southern Aid Society purchased the building in 1930 and added a four-story western and a northern wing to the building when it later became its headquarters. Founded in 1893 in Richmond, Southern Aid Insurance Company is believed to be the first chartered non-fraternal African American-run and owned industrial insurance company in the South. It is a prime example of how inextricably linked the African American churches and its pastors were to the major African American banks and insurance companies in Richmond. Southern Aid had, as its founding president, the Reverend Z.D. Lewis who pastored the Second Baptist Church. For decades, Southern Aid was the oldest African American-owned insurance company in America. It is no longer in existence.

At our next stop, Stop #3, we will learn more about A.D. Price who served as president of Southern Aid from 1905 until 1921 and as a director of the Mechanics Savings Bank. We will now round the corner and turn left, and continue down to the corner of Third and Leigh. We will carefully cross over the intersection.

[MUSIC]

STOP #3

EB: We are now at Stop #3, at Third and Leigh Street. To our left is the former A.D. Price Funeral Home establishment of Alfred Douglas Price.

Price was born in 1860 in neighboring Hanover County. He came to Richmond and trained, initially, as a blacksmith and wheelwright before entering the funeral and livery business. Price began his funeral establishment in the early 1880s and it grew to become one of the largest African American-owned funeral establishments in the country. From his warehouse on Third Street, Price served as a wholesaler of funeral supplies to African Americans in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. As one of the largest African American real estate holders in Richmond, his council was sought by several banks and insurance companies and, as a result, Price served on many boards. Most notably, he served as a Director of the Mechanics Savings Bank, Maggie Walker's St. Luke Penny Savings Bank, the Commercial Bank and Trust, and the Richmond Hospital and Training School for Nurses. At his death in 1921, A.D. Price was a member of over thirty fraternal and business organizations. Our next stop will be near the corner of Third and Jackson Streets where we will explore the history of Third Street Bethel A.M.E. at 614 North Third Street and the former home of John Mitchell, Jr. We will walk down Third Street until we are near the corner of Third and Jackson.

[MUSIC]

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STOP #4

EB: We are now at Stop #4. Let's take a look at the residence to our right, directly across Third Street from the church.

This double-home, constructed in the Italianate style, was the former home of John Mitchell, Jr. To preserve this historic structure, it was moved from its original location at 515-517 North Third Street to the 600-block of North Third Street. John Mitchell Jr. was truly a renaissance man. He was born in 1863 at Laburnum in neighboring Henrico County and he attended the public schools of Richmond, graduating from Richmond Colored Normal in 1881. After a short stint in teaching, Mitchell would embark upon a career in journalism that would span nearly fifty years. He is perhaps best remembered for being the fiery, fearless editor and publisher of the Richmond Planet newspaper from 1884 until 1929. Mitchell used his pen as a sword to fight injustices locally and statewide. He also tirelessly fought for a federal anti-lynching bill. Mitchell served for a time as president of the Afro-American Press Association. As the founder and president of the Mechanics Savings Bank, he was for a number of years the lone African American member of the American Bankers Association. Mitchell was also very active in politics. He served on Richmond's City Council from 1888 until 1896 and he even ran for governor in 1921 on the Lily Black ticket which included pioneering banker, Mrs. Maggie L. Walker as a candidate for the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Mitchell also played a major role in the 1904 streetcar boycott in Richmond in response to discriminatory practices. John Mitchell, Jr. died in 1929.

Let's turn back to the church on your left. Third Street Bethel A.M.E. Church has a rich legacy indeed. This church traces its origins to the white-run Trinity Methodist Church. The African American members left to organize a church of their own and this church was built around 1856 by enslaved and free African Americans. Third Street Bethel A.M.E. was home to one of the earliest Freedman's Bureau schools in Richmond after the Civil War. Many schools were organized under the auspices of the Bureau to assist the newly freed in successfully transitioning from slavery to freedom. This church would become the site of several noted speeches. Pioneering female banker Maggie L. Walker delivered several noted addresses here including the one in 1901 that espoused the need for the creation of a bank by the Independent Order of St. Luke. Because of its rich legacies, the church is on both the state and national historic registries.

Our next stop is Stop #5 at the northeast side of Second and Jackson Street. We will now carefully cross to the north side of Third and Jackson and turn left and continue to the northeast intersection of Second and Jackson Streets.

[MUSIC]

STOP #5

EB: We are now at Stop #5. We are facing two historic buildings which formerly housed two noted African American businesses.

The three-story building directly in front of us to the left formerly housed the Richmond Beneficial Insurance Company. Richmond Beneficial was organized in 1894 by a founding president, Reverend Wesley F. Graham and others. Graham, who was

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pastor of the Fifth Street Baptist Church, would also found the American Beneficial Insurance Company in 1902. This building [which] would serve as headquarters for Richmond Beneficial opened to the public in June of 1912. As was customary for the time, this was a multi-purpose building. At the time of its opening it housed, in addition to the insurance company, the Capital Shoe Company and meeting rooms for rental to fraternal and social organizations. The Richmond Beneficial building had the distinction of being designed and constructed by African Americans. It was designed by professor Charles T. Russell, a native of Jackson Ward and one of the earliest licensed African American architects in Virginia. Russell received his training in the building arts at Hampton Institute and received further training at Tuskegee. He will design and oversee the major renovations of several notable African American businesses, residences, and churches. Professor Russell was also the founding president of the National Builders Association. The construction of this building was done by the African American firm of Moore and Archer. Henry J. Moore, of the firm, apprenticed under Joseph Farrar, the father of contractor Daniel J. Farrar. Moore also served on City Council during the 1890s. This insurance company no longer exists.

The small building next to the Richmond Beneficial building formerly housed the Second Street Savings Bank. The Second Street Savings Bank was chartered in 1920 making it the sixth bank to be chartered by African Americans in Richmond. Its founding president was John T. Taylor and the bank was closely aligned with the Richmond Beneficial Insurance Company next door. The Second Street Savings Bank was also designed by noted African American architect, professor Charles T. Russell and it was constructed by African American contractor Daniel J. Farrar. Due to a dwindling pool of depositors and an economic downturn, the shareholders of the Second Street Savings Bank and Maggie Walker's St. Luke Bank and Trust met in December of 1929 and voted to merge the two banks. The new bank opened for business in January of 1930 as the Consolidated Bank and Trust. The Commercial Bank and Trust would merge with Consolidated Bank and Trust approximately one year later to complete the merger of the three African American banks. For decades, Consolidated Bank and Trust was the oldest, continuously run African American-owned bank in America.

At our next stop at Stop #6, we'll see additional commissions by African American architect Charles Russell and learn more about Maggie Walker's Independent Order of St. Luke. We will now carefully cross the intersection of Second and Jackson Street and continue along Jackson and carefully cross the intersection at First and Jackson Streets. We will continue to travel down Jackson until we are mid-way between First and St. James Street on Jackson Street.

[MUSIC]

STOP #6

EB: We are now at Stop #6, the Jackson Street vista. We will now turn our attention to the right where the dull roar in the distance signals the presence of Interstate 95. The Interstate, built in the 1950s, displaced many families in Jackson Ward and greatly affected its vibrant economy.

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